The Everrain Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Basic Concepts
  • Orders
  • Coin
  • Game board
  • Map tiles
  • Dice
  • Spoils Table
  • Ship board
  • Crew boards & Trait cards
  • Port board
  • Improvement cards
  • Artillery cards
  • Treasure cards
  • Sea event cards
  • Expedition cards
  • Denizen cards
  • Story cards
  • Enemy cards
  • Elder One boards
• Setup
  • Integrating expansions
• Gameplay Overview
  • Round order
  • Winning & Losing
  • Exhausting & reshuffling decks
  • Rounding numbers
  • The player count symbol
• The Discovery & Agenda Tracks, Clues & Acts
  • The Discovery Track
  • The Agenda Track
  • Advancing the Player
  • Advancing the Enemy
  • Advancing the Elder One
  • Acts
  • End of an Act
  • Gathering Clues
• Your Ship
  • On Deck
  • Taking damage & destroying nodes
  • Below Deck
  • Upgrades - Improvements, Artillery & Schematics
  • Ship Movement
  • Player Death & Sinking
• Your Crew
  • Deckhands & Shellbacks
  • Hiring Crew & Paying Wages
  • Traits
  • Trauma & Strain
  • Crew Death & Dismissal
• Orders
• Exploring the Map
  • Sea & Land
  • Calm & Rough Seas
  • Ports & Denizens
  • Locations & Services
  • Denizens & Passengers
  • Departing from Port
  • Islands & Expeditions
  • Altars
  • Shipwrecks
  • Storms
  • Revealing New Map Tiles
• Events & Storytelling
  • Triggering stories
  • Lost & untold stories
• Enemy Spawning & Behaviour
  • Spawning & Activation
  • Running out of Miniatures
  • Movement, attacking & objectives
  • Enemies At Sea
  • Destroying enemies & Spoils
  • Sinking enemy ships
• Combat - Engaging In & Avoiding
  • Combat On Deck
  • Combat At Sea
  • Avoiding Combat
  • Banishing Enemies & Not Engaging Enemy Ships
• Elder One Awakening
  • Revealing & Spawning an Elder One
  • Activating & Controlling an Elder One
  • Combatting & Slowing an Elder One
• Player Interaction & Co-operation
  • Trading
  • Assisting in Combat
• Optional Advanced Mechanics
  • Boarding Ships & Launching Exhaustive Expeditions
  • Boarding Ships
  • Launching Exhaustive Expeditions
• The World of the Everrain
  • The Under God & the Coming of the Great Flood
  • Cultists
  • The Descended
  • The Corruption of the Waters
• Reference: Traits & Spoils Table
  • Positive Traits
  • Negative Traits
  • Indelible Traits (Shellbacks)
  • Spoils Table
• Credits

Overview

The Everrain is a fully cooperative story-driven exploration game for 1-4 players. The world is drowning beneath an endless deluge of rain as an ancient deity awakens to remake the world in its image, and players must head out into the dark and foreboding seascape to discover the mysteries of the Everrain and prevent it from unmaking the world.

Each player is the captain of their ship, beginning with a basic crew and humble vessel, but throughout the game may improve and upgrade in many ways. The game is played out in Acts, in which the players must collectively race the agents of the enemy along the Discovery track, where the players, enemies and the Elder One all have a presence. Reach the end of the final Act before the Elder One manifests in the world and completes its final objective, and the game is won!

Players progress by collecting Clues, which are awarded in many ways, such as exploration, combat and story progression. Once enough Clues have been gathered, handing them in at any Port will advance Player Discovery. The enemy will progress at a continual and steady pace, though sometimes hastened due to your actions, and the Elder One too will advance should certain conditions be met. If the Enemy and Elder One tokens ever meet on the Discovery Track, the Elder One is summoned into the world, and players will be forced to make a desperate last stand to avert the Great Flood!

Components

• 8 ships: 4 Player ships, 4 Enemy ship bases, plus 4 coloured ship bases
• 12 Deckhands, 6 Shellbacks, 2 Master At Arms, 2 Navigator, 2 Surgeon
• 1 Avatar of the Under God
• 15 enemies: 3 Wyrm, 4 Drowned Man, 1 Harbinger, 4 Bloated Cadaver, 3 Cultist
• 1 Game Board, 1 Enemy Ship/Island Board, 4 Player Ship Boards, Port Board, 3 Storm Tiles
• 20 Map Tiles, 18 Crew Boards, 3 Avatar Boards
• 180 Gems: 100 Trauma, 80 Strain
• 334 Cards: 91 Sea Event, 21 Expedition, 62 Denizen, 29 Treasure, 44 Improvement, 30 Artillery, 19 Enemy, 32 Trait, 1 Ongoing Story cover, 5 Reference
• 283 Tokens: 16 Crew Order, 12 Navigation Order, 8 Artillery Order, 10 Fleeting Order, 25 Bronze Coin, 20 Silver Coin, 10 Gold Coin, 9 Passenger, 6 Shipwreck, 26 Explored, 40 Destroyed, 30 Clue, 1 First Player, 1 Player Discovery, 1 Enemy Discovery, 1 Elder One Discovery, 1 Enemy Agenda, 4 Enemy Destination, 8 Exhaustive Expedition, 33 Miniature Identifier, 17 Fatigue, 4 Dice Value Modifier
• 16 Dice: 5 Attack, 5 Evasion, 5 Enemy, 1 Fate

Basic Concepts

Orders

These are how players perform almost every action, and there are 4 distinct types; Navigation, Crew, Artillery and Fleeting. A player may issue as many Orders as they like during their turn, but may only recover 3 per round.

• Crew: Moves a Crew to and from anywhere on the ship & triggers a Fray.
• Navigation: Moves the ship. Generates a base of 1 navigation point, plus 1 additional point for every Crew on a Navigation node.
• Artillery: Fires a ship's Artillery when Crew are manning the relevant Artillery nodes.
• Fleeting: Can be issued as Crew, Navigation or Artillery Orders. Single use & discarded once issued.

Coin

Coin can be used to purchase just about anything, from new Crew and upgrades to vital information, and comes in 5, 10 and 20 denominations.

Game board

The game board represents the world of the Everrain, and is where each player's ship miniature exists, sailing across the map in search of fortune, knowledge and adventure.

• Map tile slot: Revealed map tiles are placed in these uniquely shaped slots, creating a different map each time.
• Starting slot
• Enemy Deck slot
• Positive Trait Deck slot
• Negative Trait Deck slot
• Elder One board slot
• Crew board slot
• Sea Event Deck slot
• Expedition Deck slot
• Improvement Deck slot
• Artillery Deck slot
• Treasure Deck slot
• Agenda track: The creeping progress that the enemy is making towards their nefarious goal, this track is advanced every round by 2+ the number of players. Whenever the Agenda track reaches its end, the Enemy advances along the Discovery track.
• End of Act space: The three yellow spaces along the Discovery Track indicate an Act's end. Once a player or enemy reaches one of these spaces, the Act is complete, and new tiles and cards are added to the game.
• Discovery track: A visual representation of the progress that the players, enemies and Elder One are making towards their objectives.

Map tiles

8 unique hex spaces make up the map tiles the player can explore. Each space is categorised as either sea or land and affects how a player's turn ends.

1. Calm Seas (sea): Common and uneventful, Calm Seas can be moved through without penalty.
2. Rough Seas (sea): Navigation point costs are doubled when traversing.
3. Islands (land): Crew may be sent ashore using the Dinghy and Ship's Boat Improvements to Resolve an Expedition event. An Explored token is then placed over the Island.
4. Shipwrecks (sea): Landing on Shipwrecks reward the player with 1 roll on the Spoils Table. An Explored token is then placed over the Shipwreck.
5. Ports (land): Each Crew may be sent to a location in Port to engage its services, and most importantly, turn in Clues to advance Player Discovery.
6. Altars (land): An enemy spawns On Deck whenever your ship enters a tile containing an active Altar. They can be purged by visiting them and spawning enemies equal to the current Act, and placing an Explored token over the Altar, making the waters around them safe once more.
7. Clue reward: The number of Clues the player collects for revealing this map tile.
8. Act number: Each Act has a limited number of tiles that can be revealed. Tiles can only be revealed when players are in or have advanced beyond the tile's Act number.

Enemy Ship Spawns (sea): A Calm Sea space with this symbol means an enemy ship spawns here whenever one of these is revealed for the first time. Additionally, at the beginning of each Act, an enemy ship will spawn at one of these, chosen at random.

Storms (whatever is covered): Storms impose the same movement penalties as Rough Seas, deal 1 damage to ships changing facing, moving into and out of them, interrupt line of sight and prevent players from interacting with whatever they cover.

Dice

There are 4 different types of dice, each with a unique colour and function:

Player Dice — Attack: Rolled by the player when attempting to deal damage with Crew or Artillery.

• Damage: Deals 1 damage to target
• Critical Damage: Deals 2 damage to target
• Omen: Exhaust a Fresh Order to change to a Damage result
• Blank: No effect

Player Dice — Evasion: Rolled by the player to avoid incoming damage to Crew and ships.

• Evade: Cancels 1 enemy damage result
• Omen: Exhaust a Fresh Order to change to an Evade result
• Blank: No effect

Enemy Dice: Used to control enemies. Enemy dice results are unique to other dice. If 2 identical results are rolled that has no relevance to an enemy's situation, then they automatically become a result that does.

• Move — On Deck: Move 1 zone. At Sea: 1 navigation point
• Damage: Deals 1 damage to target
• Omen: Activates enemy special abilities

Fate: The D10 is called the Fate die and is used for a variety of tests and checks you and your Crew will face. In The Everrain, 0 is the lowest result and 9 is the highest result.

Spoils Table

When prompted by the Spoils Reward symbol, players roll the Fate die and consult the Spoils table to see what their prize is.

Spoils Reward: The number of rolls on the Spoils table awarded.

Rewards are collected immediately after rolling the Fate die. Players may re-organise and discard from their ship if they do not have enough room for the reward or choose not to collect it entirely.

Ship board

There are 4 player ships; The Bitter End, The Pariah, The Aberconway and The Ivory Sword. Aside name and colour, they are identical.

• Zones: Areas Crew & Enemies can occupy. Each zone can hold 3 miniatures, no matter their base size.
• Nodes: Ordering Crew to man these allows the ship to move faster, reveal new tiles and fire the ship's Artillery.
• Improvement slots: Improvements upgrade and change the functionality of the ship, can be purchased or awarded, and are placed here.
• Fresh & Issued Order areas: Available Orders are placed in the Fresh Orders area & moved to the Issued Orders area when spent.
• Ship Name & Figurehead
• Crew slots: Hired Crew's boards are placed in 1 of these 4 slots.
• Artillery slots: Weapons found or purchased can be added to the ship and placed in the Port, Bow/Stern or Starboard slots for use in naval combat.
• Ship Directions
• Hold slot: Treasures are stored here. Ships begin with a Hold capacity of 3, meaning up to 3 Treasures can be carried.
• Story slot: Stories take place across several Event cards, & any resolved stories are stored here for reference.
• Passenger slot: When Passengers are on board, their card is placed here.
• Clue Area: Any Clues gathered are placed here.

Crew boards & Trait cards

Each Crew member is represented by a Crew board displaying all of their values and an accompanying miniature. Whenever a Crew is hired, they are randomly dealt a Positive & Negative Trait card.

• Dice value: The number of dice this Crew can roll when engaging in combat On Deck.
• Trauma/Strain track: The total amount of Trauma and/or Strain a Crew can suffer before dying. When Trauma or Strain is suffered, relevant coloured gems are placed on this track.
• Portrait and Name
• Positive & Negative Trait slots: Positive & Negative Trait cards are placed here, underneath, with the keyword showing.
• Wage value: The cost to hire this Crew & pay their wages at the end of each Act.
• Island & Port Values: Used when testing your Crew at these locations.
• Effect symbol: Traits are often only in effect in specific locations. There are 4 symbols; Sea, Expedition, Port & General.
• Effect: The Trait's effect is described here.

Port board

These vital havens provide a place to rest, recover and repair. Not only this, the ever-changing residents of these places will often offer intriguing opportunities and insights.

• Location name
• Service space: Crew can be sent to these spaces to engage the services on offer.
• Denizens slot: Each time a Port is visited a Denizen card is drawn, offering unique events and services.
• Services: Each location offers a unique service.
• Location: A named area of the Port board, each of the 6 locations offer unique services.

Improvement cards

Improvements may be found or purchased and are placed in the Improvement slots Below Deck. Each ship may have up to 6 Improvements installed.

• Potential Effect space: Unusable until identical Improvements are installed adjacent to each other, making these spaces whole & active.
• Name
• Improvement effect: Each Improvement grants a bonus that can benefit your Crew, Ship or objective.
• Improvement symbol: A reference symbol identifying this as an Improvement.
• Cost: The price to purchase the Improvement.
• Schematic: Improvements can be found in Schematic form & either installed or sold.
• Effect space: Circular spaces indicate that Crew must occupy this Improvement to benefit from its effect. Square spaces with numbers & cards without any spaces require no Crew to gain the effect.

Artillery cards

Artillery modifies the range and damage that a ship can deal when engaging in combat at sea.

• Artillery symbol: A reference symbol identifying this as Artillery.
• Ship orientation: The ship's direction relating to the hexes the Artillery can target.
• Range & dice value: The hexes the Artillery can target & the number of dice rolled when firing the Artillery.
• Location: All Artillery can only be placed in specific Artillery slots.
• Schematic: Artillery can be found in Schematic form & either installed or sold.
• Cost: The price to purchase the Artillery.

Treasure cards

Treasures are abundant in the world of the Everrain, and a skilled captain knows where to get the best price for their wares.

• Type: There are 4 types of Treasures; Commodity, Shanty, Trinket & Relic.
• Single use effect: Treasures can be discarded at any time on a player's turn to immediately trigger this.
• Name
• Clue value: Treasures with this symbol can be handed over as Clues to advance Player Discovery.
• Value: How much a treasure buys & sells for. Each has an Undesired, Standard & Desired Value.
• Undesired Value & Port and Desired Value & Port

Sea event cards

A Sea event card is drawn and resolved when a player ends their turn on a sea space (Calm Seas, Rough Seas, Shipwrecks & Enemy Ship Spawns) with no enemies in Engagement range or On Deck.

• Set symbol: The core game and expansions each have their own unique symbol to identify which cards belong to it. Sets include: Core Game, Twilight Flood, Torrent of Rebellion, Abyssal Tides, Undertow of Madness, Kickstarter Exclusive, Art Book.
• Story: The setting, predicament, or circumstances that surround the event.
• Event type
• Available choices
• Outcomes & effects: This is where the options available to the player or the outcome of the event is written.

Expedition cards

When Crew are sent ashore to an Island, an Expedition card is drawn. The dispatched Crew are tested to see whether they can overcome whatever hardships or secrets the island holds.

• Story
• Set symbol
• Event type
• Test type: Which of the Crew's values is being tested.
• Pass/Fail consequences

Denizen cards

Representing the myriad of personalities and walks of life encountered in the vibrant and bustling hubs of this world, a Denizen card is drawn each time a player visits a Port. Interacting with Denizen cards is optional, and can be ignored should the player prefer to take advantage of the other services in Port.

• Card type: There are 4 types of Denizen card; Alternatives offer unique services not usually available in Port, Incidents will test your Crew for the chance of rewards, Labours can be undertaken to earn coin and Passengers will pay to be ferried to their destination.
• Name or Event
• Instruction: Most cards require players to test their Crew or pay a cost to interact with it.
• Reward: What is gained from completing the Instruction.
• Set symbol
• Destination
• Story
• Crew space: These half circles indicate that a Crew must be sent here to interact with the card.

Story cards

The Sea Event, Expedition and Denizen decks all contain Story cards. Stories can begin in and cross over into any of these decks by discovering new cards. These are collected under the Ongoing Stories covering card and placed on top of their respective decks when Player or Enemy Discovery reaches a space with the Story icon.

• Journey consequence: An action that continues the story. Players must do this, if able to. If unable to do so, then the card is discarded & the story lost.
• Event type: After a story has begun, there are 2 further stages; the Journey requires some sacrifice, payment or objective to be fulfilled, and the Epilogue concludes the story and often bestows excellent rewards.
• Deck building prompt: A number with a + on either side of it is a prompt to retrieve that card from the Ongoing Stories deck & place it under the Ongoing Stories covering card. These cards are brought into play when the player or enemy reaches a Story space along the Discovery Track.
• Card number
• Epilogue reward: The recompense for seeing the story to its end.
• Story spaces on the Discovery Track feature the Story icon.

Enemy cards

Enemies can appear as all manner of creatures and ne'er-do-wells on player ship boards or as enemy ships on the main map.

• Health: How much Trauma an enemy can take before being destroyed.
• Portrait
• Special abilities: Most enemies have unique and dangerous abilities that activate if they roll the corresponding number of results.
• Engagement range: Enemy ships will pursue and attack player ships if they enter into their Engagement range.
• Artillery range & orientation: The hexes the enemy can inflict damage on and from which direction they can attack.
• Spoils Reward: The number of rolls on the Spoils Table awarded destroying the enemy.
• Name
• Act Value: Indicates in which Act the enemy enters into play. When new Acts begin, enemies with matching Act values are shuffled into the enemy deck.
• values: The number of results needed to activate the ability.
• Dice value: The number of dice the enemy rolls when they activate.
• Destination: When enemies spawn, an Enemy Destination token is placed at this location. When not pursuing or attacking players, enemies will head here.

Elder One boards

During setup, an Elder One board is dealt at random, face down, and only revealed if the Elder One awakens.

• Dice value: The number of enemy dice the Elder One rolls when it activates.
• Health: Elder Ones cannot be killed, but each time their Health is reduced to 0, a Dice Value Modifier token is placed on their board, reducing the number of Enemy dice they roll by 1.
• Objective: If the Elder One manages to complete this, the game is lost.
• Attack range: The hex spaces the Elder One can target with Damage results.
• Name
• Flavour text
• Upon Awakening effect: When the Elder One rises and enters play, this 1 time effect is immediately resolved.
• Whilst Arisen effect: This is a continual effect that happens everytime the Elder One activates.

Setup

1. Set out the Game board, Port board, tokens, gems and dice. Place the Player and Enemy Discovery tokens on the first space of the Discovery track. Set the length of the game you wish to play by placing the Elder One Discovery token on the corresponding space of the Discovery Track: Short: 8, Medium: 12, Long: 16. It is recommended to play a short game on your first playthrough.
2. Place the Enemy Agenda token on the first space of the Agenda track. Choose an Elder One board at random and place it face down in the slot along the game board.
3. Each player collects:
   • 1 Ship board, ship miniature with matching figurehead and coloured clip-on base
   • 3 Crew Orders, 2 Navigation Orders and 1 Artillery Order, placed in the Fresh Order area
   • 40 Coin (2x5, 1x10 and 1x20)
   • 2 Deckhand Crew boards and a Positive and Negative Trait card for each, at random, placed in the Crew slots along with the matching Crew miniatures placed anywhere in the Below Deck area.
   • 1 Cabins and 1 Dinghy starter Improvement, and 1 random starter Artillery (these are the ones without a Cost). Install these anywhere possible on your ship and place any unused starter Improvements and Artillery cards back in the box.
4. Shuffle the Improvement, Artillery, Treasure, Positive Trait and Negative Trait card decks and all remaining Crew boards and place them along the game board in their slot, face down.
5. Sort the Map tiles by Act number, shuffle and place them face down in a pile with Act 1 at the top, followed by Act 2, then Act 3.
6. Shuffle together all Enemy cards with an Act Value of 1 and place them along the game board in their slot, face down. Set all Act 2 and 3 Enemy cards to one side.
7. Sort all unnumbered Sea Event, Expedition and Denizen cards into their respective decks, shuffle and place along the game board, face down. Sort all numbered Story cards into numerical order and place faceup within easy reach of all players. This is known as the Ongoing Stories deck.
8. Choose a starting player at random (perhaps the last person who was at sea). That player draws the first Act 1 map tile, places it on the starting tile slot of the game board and places their ship on any Calm Sea space, facing in the direction of the player's choosing. When it is their turn, each player spawns into the game in this way; in a Calm Sea space of the starting tile, facing a direction of choice. Players take their turns in clockwise order.

Integrating expansions

Any expansion content should be shuffled in during setup. As much expansion content can be added as the players like, but it is recommended that the number of Shellbacks does not exceed the number of Deckhands in the Crew board deck.

Gameplay Overview

Round order

Player Phase

1. Refresh Orders & remove Fatigue
2. Players take their turns

Enemy Phase

1. Elder One Arisen effect*
2. Elder One activates*
3. Roll Fate die & move Storms
4. Enemies On Deck activate
5. Enemies at sea activate
6. Advance Agenda 2+ player count
7. Pass First Player token clockwise

*Only when Elder One has Arisen (see p33)

There is no set sequence to what a player does on their turn, and they are free to take whatever actions available to them in whichever order they choose. The Player Phase is over once all players have had a turn.

Winning & Losing

All players win the game by reaching the end of the Discovery Track before the enemy or before an Elder One awakes and completes its objective. Should Enemy Discovery reach the end of the track first, or the Elder One completes its objective, all players lose.

Exhausting & reshuffling decks

Cards that are resolved or discarded are placed face up in discard piles next to their respective decks. When a deck runs out of cards, it is refreshed by shuffling the discard pile and placing it back along the edge of the game board. All card and board decks with a dedicated slot along the edges of the game board are refreshed once exhausted. Cards from stories that have begun are an exception; once they have been drawn and resolved, they are held onto by the player for reference in the Story slot of the Ship boards.

Rounding numbers

If ever required to, players should always round down.

The player count symbol

Wherever this is seen, the Player Count symbol increases the number before the + by the number of players participating in the game.

The Discovery & Agenda Tracks, Clues & Acts

Discovering the mysteries of the Everrain and preventing it from coming to pass is your shared goal. Though each player will embark on their own adventures and careers in this world, you should never lose sight of this ultimate objective.

The Discovery Track

The Discovery Track is a representation of the progress that the players, the enemy and the Elder One are making towards their goal. Each has a presence on this track, and it is divided into 4 Acts.

The Agenda Track

The Agenda track records the constant progression the enemy is making towards their wicked goals and advances at a steady pace of 2, plus 1 for every player during the Enemy Phase. Each time this track reaches its end, Enemy Discovery is advanced 1.

Advancing the Player

The primary way to advance Player Discovery is turning in Clues at any University in Port.

• Gather 5 Clues.
• Navigate to any Port.
• Turn in Clues at a University & advance Player Discovery 1.

Advancing the Enemy

Enemies advance along the Discovery track by filling the Enemy Agenda track.

• During the Enemy Phase, advance Enemy Agenda 2, plus 1 for every player.
• Each time the Enemy Agenda reaches 10, advance Enemy Discovery 1.
• Return the Enemy Agenda to 1. All points of Enemy Agenda should be used, even when the track is reset to 1.

Advancing the Elder One

The Elder One advances down the Discovery track towards Player & Enemy Discovery in several ways:

• If the enemy reaches the End of Act before the player, Elder One Discovery advances equal to the spaces between Enemy and Player Discovery.
• Each time Enemy Discovery advances away from an adjacent space to Player Discovery, advance Elder One Discovery 1.
• If a player ship is sunk, advance Elder One Discovery 1.

Acts

Each game is split into 4 Acts, with both the players and enemy competing to be the first to reach the end of each Act. There are 2 possible outcomes that are triggered at the end of an Act, depending on who reaches the End of Act space on the Discovery track first:

End of an Act

When the player or enemy reaches an End of Act space on the Discovery Track:

If the Player reaches it first: Each player collects a new Order of choice. Then, advance Elder One Discovery equal to the spaces between Player & Enemy Discovery.

If the Enemy reaches it first: Pay Crew wages. Collect all Enemy cards with an Act value equal to the new Act & shuffle them into the Enemy deck. Place all cards in the Ongoing Stories deck facedown & perpendicular on their decks. Place Player & Enemy Discovery on the End of Act space, ready to begin the next Act. Spawn a Storm tile equal in size to the new Act & an Enemy Ship on a Random Enemy Ship Spawn space.

Gathering Clues

Gathering vital information about the Everrain phenomenon, the enemies you face, and even the Elder Ones themselves is the ultimate goal. Any information you discover, no matter how insignificant, is represented by Clues.

Clues are rewarded in many ways, and players are given significant freedom in approaching this task. Constructing a war frigate and seizing Clues by force, specialising in trading and earning coin to purchase Clues, even becoming a great explorer and earning your Clues plundering shipwrecks and launching expeditions to uncharted isles; all are viable strategies.

Clue values: Relic Treasures are unique in that they have a Clue Value. They may be turned in on their own or with Clues at a University to advance Player Discovery, so long as the Clue value is high enough. Should multiple Relics be turned in and their total exceeds the amount needed to advance Player Discovery, the excess Clue Value is lost.

Example: The player has arrived in Port with a Curious Idol, Strange Writings and 3 Clues in their possession, and so sent a Crew to the University to advance Player Discovery. There are 2 options here; they could hand in the Strange Writings, with a Clue Value of 2, and 3 Clues or hand in the Curious Idol, with a Clue Value of 5. Both are enough to advance Player Discovery.

Your Ship

A sturdy and reliable ship is the making of every good captain, and you shall be no different. Almost everything of importance takes place aboard your ship, which can be improved and upgraded throughout your journey. Crew can man key locations to change the ship's functionality, and enemies can invade the upper deck and attempt to slay your Crew and sink your vessel.

On Deck

Ships have 2 distinct areas that miniatures can occupy; On Deck and Below Deck. The On Deck part of the ship consists of 10 zones, each with a node at the centre. Each zone can hold a maximum of 3 miniatures, no matter the base size. Some nodes match the symbols of some Orders, indicating that these 2 elements relate to each other. There are 4 types of node:

• Navigation node: An additional Navigation point is generated for each Crew on 1 of these nodes when a Navigation Order is issued.
• Artillery node: In order to fire the ship's Artillery, Crew must be present on the corresponding node.
• Crow's Nest node: Crew must be present on this node to reveal new Map tiles.
• Blank node: Black nodes without symbols have no special effect.

Example: 2 Deckhands are On Deck, manning Artillery and Navigation nodes. The Crew manning the Artillery node allows the player to fire their Port cannons, while the Crew on the Navigation node will generate +1 navigation point when a Navigation Order is issued. No one is manning the Crow's Nest, so new Map tiles cannot be revealed until someone does.

The unforgiving conditions On Deck can and will take their toll, and if a player ends their turn on a Calm Sea, Rough Sea or Shipwreck space, any Crew On Deck suffer 1 Strain. Crew can die from both Trauma received from enemies and hazards and from taking too much Strain, so finding a balance between working your Crew hard, but not to death, is paramount.

Taking damage & destroying nodes

Nodes are destroyed by enemies attacking them On Deck, attacks from other ships and through event outcomes. 1 damage result is enough to destroy a node. Any Crew or enemies present in a zone when it is destroyed suffer 1 Trauma.

Destruction token: Nodes on player ships are covered by Destruction tokens when damaged and cannot be used for their function until repaired, though the zone can still be occupied and traversed.

When a player ship takes damage from another ship or non-specific source, like an event card outcome, the Fate die is rolled to determine which node is destroyed. Each of the 10 nodes On Deck are numbered. If a node is destroyed but already has a Destruction token placed on it, then the next numerically descending node is destroyed (remember, always round down). If this is not possible, the next numerically ascending node is.

Example: The ship has taken 2 damage from incoming enemy ship fire, so the Fate die is rolled, and the first result is 6. This destroys node 6 and also deals 1 Trauma to the Deckhand in that zone. The fate die is rolled again, and the result is once again a 6, so the next numerically descending node is destroyed, which is node 5. There's a Bloated Cadaver present there, so it also takes 1 Trauma.

Below Deck

Below Deck is made up of 6 slots, each of which can hold an Improvement, and each ship begins with two starter Improvements. Crew can occupy any of the 6 Below Deck Improvement slots but will only benefit from the effect of an Improvement if placed in a circular Crew effect space. Otherwise, it is assumed they are merely meandering around the lower decks to escape the rain. There is always room for Crew Below Deck.

Duplicate miniatures: When multiples of the same miniature are on a ship, these tokens are placed on the minis base and card/board to distinguish between them.

Example: Deckhand #1 is in the Cabins' Crew effect space, allowing them to recover 1 Strain. Deckhand #2 is on the Sturdy Ballast, which has no effect spaces and thus bestows no benefit, but he's welcome to occupy it all the same. Deckhand #3 is on an empty Below Deck slot, which also gives no benefit.

Upgrades - Improvements, Artillery & Schematics

By augmenting the ships with the wide array of Improvements and Artillery, players are able to turn their vessels into powerful and menacing war frigates, fast and agile trading vessels or anything in between. These are collectively known as upgrades.

When an upgrade is purchased or awarded, it is installed in an Improvement or Artillery slot of the players choice. Players may reorganise or discard upgrades each time a new upgrade is installed. Upgrades cannot be sold once installed, only discarded.

Improvements

Once an Improvement has been installed in a slot Below deck, its benefits are gained either by a miniature being placed on spaces on the Improvement or passively as the result of some sort of action being taken by the player or enemy.

• Circular effect space: Blank, circular spaces indicate that Crew can be placed here to benefit from the Improvement. Their functionality can be improved further by placing an identical Improvement adjacent, unlocking its potential effect space.
• Square effect space: These spaces augment a ship function and do not require Crew to be present to benefit. Their functionality can be improved further by placing an identical Improvement adjacent, unlocking its potential effect space.
• Rectangular effect space: Enemies can be placed in rectangular spaces if certain conditions are met.
• No effect space: These Improvements bestow unique benefits and do not require any Crew present to benefit from them.

Fatiguing: Whenever a Crew activates an Improvement and triggers its benefit, a Fatigue token is placed on their board. Fatigued Crew cannot trigger any more Improvements on that turn; however, they can still be issued Orders and put to work On Deck. All Fatigue tokens are removed at the beginning of a player's next turn.

Fatigue token: Placed on a Crew once they have triggered an Improvement.

Example: This ship has been significantly upgraded. 2 Cabins are adjacent to one another, activating the potential effect space and allowing up to 3 Crew to recover Strain. A Diving Bell has been fitted, granting additional rolls on the Spoils table when visiting Shipwrecks if manned by Crew. However, its potential effect space is not active, due to a different Improvement making its potential effect space whole. The Greater Hold has expanded this ship's Hold, enabling it to carry up to 4 Treasures, and the Sturdy Ballast is negating the movement penalties of Rough Sea spaces. Finally, the captured Drowned Man in the Brig is awarding Clues every round.

Artillery & line of sight: Artillery has a dedicated area of the ship that miniatures cannot occupy. There are 3 slots here; Port, Bow/Stern and Starboard. Artillery can only be placed in a slot if the location on the Artillery card matches. Each Artillery card displays which hex spaces can be targeted and the number of Attack dice rolled when firing.

Lines of sight for all ships are achieved if an unobstructed line can be drawn from the ship's centre and target hex space, and is obstructed if that line is interrupted by other ships and land spaces. Ships can still be targeted when occupying Islands and Altars, but Ports are safe havens where Artillery cannot be fired into or from.

Example: There are 3 enemy ships within the player's Artillery attack range, but only 1 possible target. The enemy ship off the starboard quarter is behind the Port of Netherhorn and cannot be fired upon. The other player ship is interrupting the line of sight to the enemy off the starboard bow and cannot be fired upon. The enemy ship off the port bow is the only viable target, as the Port of Ashmoor does not directly interrupt the line of sight, and can be fired upon with the 9 Pound Chasers.

Schematics: When an Upgrade is collected as a Schematic, it is placed upside down in a valid Improvement or Artillery slot. Schematics can be placed in empty slots or over existing Upgrades but will negate any covered Upgrades benefits until installed.

Schematics have no effect until they are installed, which is done by visiting a Shipwright in Port and paying half the card's cost. The card is then placed in a valid slot, turned right side up and becomes active. Schematics can also be sold at a Marketplace in Port for half the card's cost.

Ship Movement

Moving your ship around the map requires navigation points, which are generated by issuing Navigation Orders. A single point of navigation allows a ship to turn 1 hex face, move into the hex space that the ship is currently facing, or if facing an edge of a map tile with a Crew manning the Crow's Nest, reveal and place a new map tile.

Example: The ship is currently on a Calm Sea space. From here, it would take navigation 1 point to navigate into the Rough Seas it is facing or turn to face either of the Calm Seas. It would take 2 points to turn and move into those Calm Seas or turn to face the Island or Altar. It would take 3 points to navigate into the Island or Altar or to turn, move into the Calm Seas on the starboard bow and reveal a new map tile.

Player Death & Sinking

There is no player elimination in the Everrain. Instead, when all 10 nodes of a player ship are destroyed OR all Crew have been killed:

Refresh all Orders. Discard all Crew, Coin & Schematics, half of your Clues & all but 1 Treasure. Discard (not Banish) any enemies On Deck. Remove the ship from the board, replacing it with a Shipwreck token & placing on it your remaining Treasure & Clues. Advance Elder One Discovery 1.

On your next turn, place your ship on the closest unoccupied Port to where you sunk, collect 1 Deckhand, 20 Coin & continue play.

When interacting with a player's Shipwreck, the Spoils table is not rolled. Instead, the player collects the Clues and Treasure under the Shipwreck token, and the token is discarded.

Your Crew

A reliable Crew is the lifeblood of your journey; nothing can be accomplished without them. There are 2 types of Crew; Deckhands are the most common but relatively weak, and Shellbacks, who are strong, seasoned specialists of this world that each have unique Traits to aid you in your journey.

Deckhands & Shellbacks

Deckhands: Cheap, reliable and most importantly, plentiful enough to be expendable, Deckhands serve as the bulk of most crews, and there are 3 unique portraits and miniatures for the Deckhands. All Deckhand Crew boards have slightly varying dice values, stats and trauma/strain track length, and they each have a Positive and Negative Trait slot.

Shellbacks: Shellbacks are experienced professionals who can lend their unique skills to various situations. Often more powerful and capable than your average sailor, Shellbacks differ from Deckhands' in one critical aspect; they each have a unique and powerful Trait, known as an Indelible Trait. They are a core part of their character, and as such, cannot be removed or replaced.

Hiring Crew & Paying Wages

Players can hire crew from an Inn in any Port, but they are also found through events, such as survivors of shipwrecks. When a Crew is hired, their wage cost is paid, their Crew board moved to an available Crew Slot on the right side of the ship board and their miniature placed anywhere Below Deck. Deckhands are dealt 1 Positive and 1 Negative Trait at random. Shellbacks are dealt just 1 Negative Trait, as they already have an Indelible Trait. Trait cards are always placed under the Crew board, with the Trait's name and location showing.

At the end of each Act, and sometimes through events, players will be prompted to pay their Crew's wages. If a Crew's wages are not paid when prompted, they will leave your service, and their Crew board and miniature are removed from your ship board. It's worth always keeping a little coin in your coffer, just in case.

Traits

Traits are random modifiers that makeup Crew's unique personalities. There are 2 types of Traits; Positive and Negative, and 4 distinct locations where Traits come into play; Sea, Expedition, Port and General.

Trait Locations: Sea, Expedition, Port, General.

The effect of a Trait can be found on both the Trait card itself and on Trait reference cards. Traits should be checked often, as they will frequently have an effect on what you're trying to do.

Example: The Deckhand's and Navigator's Traits give them each unique roles. The Wayfinder trait makes the Navigator an incredible asset, as Crew are not required to man the Crows Nest and revealing Map tiles does not cost navigation points whilst he is aboard. However, his Duplicitous trait makes him challenging to send to Port, as he is prone to steal from your coffers. The Deckhand has the opposite problem; his Astute Trait makes him a great candidate for turning in Clues in Port, but his Indolent Trait limits his usefulness aboard a ship, as he can only be issued 1 Order per turn.

If a Crew is dealt 2 Traits that contradict or cancel each other out, such as the Hardy and Weary Sea Traits, then the Negative Trait is redrawn.

Acquiring new Traits: Your Crew can pick up new habits both good and bad along your journey, and if ever prompted to gain a Positive Trait or suffer a Negative one, this new Trait is drawn and replaces the Crew's current Trait.

Testing Crew values: When prompted at an Island or Port to take a test, the Fate die is rolled, and the result is compared to the chosen Crew's Island or Port value. A result equal to or lower than the tested value is a success.

Trauma & Strain

Trauma is the physical harm your Crew suffers and is represented by the red Trauma gems. Strain, on the other hand, is the toll on the spirit that a hard life at sea will take and is represented by the purple Strain gems.

When Trauma is suffered, red gems are placed on the Trauma/Strain track from left to right and when Strain is suffered purple gems are placed from right to left.

Crew Death & Dismissal

If a Crew's Trauma/Strain track ever becomes full from any combination of Trauma/Strain gems, then that Crew can endure no more and dies. Crew can also be dismissed from your service when in Port, at no cost. When a Crew dies or is dismissed, their miniature is removed from play, and their Crew board and Trait cards are shuffled back into their decks.

Orders

Every ship has a starting selection of Orders when the game begins, and players can acquire more Orders as the game progresses. Each type of Order is unique and has a specific effect on either the ship or the Crew.

All Orders begin the game in the Fresh Orders area on the Ship board and are moved to the Issued Orders area when spent. This is known as Issuing Orders. Players may issue as many Orders as they like during their turn.

Orders are regained at the beginning of the Player Phase by moving up to 3 Orders of choice from the Issued to the Fresh Order area, indicated by the arrow between the Order areas. This is known as Refreshing Orders.

Sometimes players will be forced to move an Order from the Fresh to the Issued Order area without the benefit of the Order's effect. This is known as Exhausting Orders.

Crew: Issuing a Crew Order moves a single Crew around or between the On Deck and Below Deck areas. There are no restrictions to and from where they can be moved.

Example: Issuing a Crew Order to this Deckhand presents several options. They could: 1. Move to any other zone On Deck, regardless of distance. 2. Move Below Deck to the Cabins and recover 1 Strain. 3. Move to any blank space or other Improvement Below Deck.

Moving a Crew into a zone containing an enemy or issuing a Crew Order to a Crew in an enemy-occupied zone triggers combat for all miniatures in the zone. This is known as a Fray (see p31).

Example: The Drowned Man needs to be removed from the ship before he causes too much havoc. Issuing a Crew Order had 2 potential uses; ordering the Deckhand in the Drowned Man's zone to trigger a Fray, or ordering the Deckhand in the Artillery zone to move in, also triggering a Fray. If the Deckhand from outside the zone is ordered to move in, this will give the Crew a combined dice pool of 3, giving them a much better chance of damaging or evading the Drowned Man.

Navigation: Navigation Orders generate navigation points, which are used to sail the Ship. They are worth a base of 1 navigation point when issued and worth an additional point for every Crew manning a blue Navigation node On Deck. There are 3 Navigation nodes on every ship, meaning that with proper placement, a single Navigation Order is capable of generating 4 navigation points when issued. This bonus is limited to 1 per node, having multiple Crew on the same node does not multiply the bonus or effect.

Players do not have to use all navigation points generated from a Navigation Order, but these points do not carry over and are lost if another action is taken.

Example: With a Deckhand on a navigation node, the Navigation Order issued has generated 2 navigation points. The player is heading for Grimsea but will pass an unexplored Island on route. Enough navigation points have been generated to reach Grimsea, but should the player decide to launch an Expedition on the Island, the second point of navigation would be lost.

Artillery: Issuing an Artillery Order fires one of the Ship's Artillery. A Crew must be present on the corresponding red Artillery node, and just as with Navigation Orders, there is no benefit to having multiple Crew manning the node.

Fleeting: Fleeting Orders are unique for 2 reasons; they can be issued as either a Crew, Navigation or Artillery Order, and they are single-use and discarded once issued.

Exploring the Map

Sea & Land

All map tile spaces can be categorised as either a sea or land space:

• Sea: Calm Seas, Rough Seas, Shipwrecks, Enemy Ship Spawns. Whenever a player ends their turn at sea, all Crew On Deck suffer 1 Strain and they must resolve a Sea Event.
• Land: Ports, Islands & Altars. Land spaces block line of sight.

Storms can be either sea or land, and are the same as whatever they are covering. Penalties imposed by map tile spaces affect both player and enemy ships.

Calm & Rough Seas

The majority of this drowning world consists of Calm and Rough Sea hex spaces. Calm Seas are unremarkable and carry no penalty, but all navigation point costs are doubled in a Rough Sea hex space.

Ports & Denizens

The hubs and havens of this world, Ports are vital landmarks where players can trade their Treasures, repair and augment their vessels, allow their Crew to indulge in some much-needed rest and relaxation and, most importantly, turn in Clues. Each Port may only be visited once during a player's turn, but multiple different Ports may be visited during the same turn.

Arriving in Port: Whenever a player ship navigates to OR begins their turn at a Port: if enemies are On Deck, remove them & advance Enemy Agenda (known as Banishing, see p32). Then reveal the top Denizen card, then send Crew to locations to engage services.

Ports are safe havens for players and their vessels and are ignored by enemy ships whilst on a Port hex space.

Locations & Services

Each circular Port space on the board is considered a service, and each Crew may engage a single service on a visit to Port. Some services have multiple functions that may all be engaged whilst a Crew is there, such as the Shipwright, whereas others have many services with single functions, such as the Inn. The act of sending Crew to Port does not cost anything, though the services they engage most likely will.

• Shipwright — Draw 4 upgrades. Players choose which combination of these cards from the Improvement and/or Artillery decks to draw, revealing the cards as they are drawn. Then: purchase any of these for their cost and install on the ship; repair nodes On Deck for 5 Coin per node; install any acquired Schematics by paying half of their cost.
• Marketplace — Draw 3 Treasure cards then: purchase any of these; sell any Treasures in your Hold; sell any Schematics that have not been installed for half of their cost.
• Apothecary — Crew can be sent here to recover Trauma.
• University — If a player has 5 Clues or Treasures with the necessary Clue value, then a Crew can be sent here to exchange them to advance Player Discovery.
• Inn — The Inn offers the widest variety of services: Rest, Gamble, or Drink (each fully recovers a Crew's Strain, but with varying costs, and in some cases, consequences); Hire Crew (Draw 3 Crew Boards, any of these may be hired by paying their wage value); Stay awhile & listen (Coin can be paid for the chance of acquiring Clues).

Using services multiple times: Services with the repeatable symbol may be used multiple times during a single visit, so long as the player has the coin to do so. All other services may only be used once per visit.

Undesired, standard & desired values: Each Treasure has 3 values listed that affects how much it trades for in specific Ports. These values affect both the Treasure's buying and selling price. Attention must be paid to the Undesired, Standard and Desired values of Treasures when trading, as prices will fluctuate depending on which Port they are visiting.

Treasures of No Value: If, when visiting the Marketplace, Treasures with an Undesired value of 0 are drawn matching the current Port, the player may collect these for free. Conversely, those Treasures have no value at that Port, and cannot be sold there.

Example: Arriving at the Port of Duskfall, the Surgeon has been sent to the Marketplace to trade and draws 3 Treasures; Rope, Pitch and Strange Writings. Rope is largely unwanted here, trading for 10 Coin (Undesired Value). Pitch is highly sought after, trading for 15 Coin (Desired Value). Strange Writings is neither sought after or unwanted, so trades for 10 Coin (Standard Value).

Denizens & Passengers

Denizen cards are unique interactions and events that randomly change each time a player visits Port. Alternative, Labour and Incident cards function just like other locations by requiring Crew interaction, with the exception being the Passenger cards.

To take on a Passenger, collect the Passenger card and place it in the Ship board's Passenger slot. Then place a Passenger token in an available effect space of a Cabin, to represent the space they occupy whilst aboard your vessel. A ship must have a Cabin to take on Passengers, and cannot send Crew to that effect space whilst the Passenger is on board. When arriving at a Passenger's destination, their card and token are removed, and the reward collected. Players may take on as many Passengers as they like, providing there is the Cabin space.

Departing from Port

Once a player has concluded their business in Port, all Crew that went to Port are returned anywhere Below Deck, and the face-up Denizen card is discarded. They may now continue their turn, providing there are Fresh Orders to issue. Players may set out from Port in any direction, changing their ship's facing without cost.

Islands & Expeditions

Wild, untamed and full of secrets, the Islands of this world can challenge even the most robust of explorers. Players do not have to launch an Expedition when on an Island hex space if they do not wish to.

If multiple Crew are sent on an Expedition, the Crew with the highest Island Value is tested. They suffer/benefit from the outcome unless stated otherwise.

Launching Expeditions: Whenever a player ship navigates to an Island: all Crew occupying Dingy & Ship's Boat Improvements will take part in the Expedition. They can be present before arriving at the Island or ordered to these Improvements once there. Draw an Expedition card & test the Crew by rolling the Fate die. A result equal to or lower than the Crew's value is a success. Resolve the outcome & mark the Island with an Explored token.

Passenger token: When a Passenger is taken aboard, these are placed in the Cabins to represent the space they occupy.

Explored token: Used to mark when Shipwrecks, Altars & Islands have been interacted with.

Altars

These unhallowed places act as a beacon to the Under God's servants, and until purged of the scourges that inhabit them, they will forever make the waters around them dangerous. Altars exist in 2 states; active and purged.

Active Altars & purging: Altars are considered active when revealed & remain so until purged by a player.

Whenever a player ship navigates into a map tile containing an active Altar, 1 enemy is spawned On Deck. To purge an Altar, a player must navigate to it & spawn enemies On Deck with Act Values equal to the current Act. The Altar is now purged & marked with an Explored token, regardless of whether the enemies spawned by the purge are destroyed.

Players should always spawn enemies of equal value to the current Act. If an enemy is drawn that exceeds that value, then enemy cards continue to be drawn until the value is met e.g. If a player that was attempting to purge an Altar during Act 2 drew a Drowned Man, then a Bloated Cadaver, only the Drowned Man would be spawned. Cards would continue to be drawn until an enemy with an Act Value of 1 is drawn.

Shipwrecks

The tales behind many vessels' demise are often forever lost to the waves, but that does not mean that another savvy captain cannot retrieve what is left behind. Should a player find themselves on a Shipwreck space, they are rewarded with 1 Spoils Table roll for plundering the wreckage and an Explored token is placed on the Shipwreck.

Shipwreck token: Placed when player or enemy ships are sunk.

Storms

Storms are hazardous, continually moving and spawned with increasing size at the beginning of each Act. They wreak havoc on any ships unlucky enough to be caught within and should be avoided where possible.

Spawning & controlling Storms: At the beginning of Acts 2, 3 and 4, a Storm of equal size is spawned (Act 3=3 hex storm) and placed so that one of the hexes covers the current first player's location. Players choose the placement & orientation of the Storm. Once placed, a Storm's orientation never changes.

Example: The Storm is having quite an effect here; not only is it blocking the line of sight between the player and enemy ships, but it's also prohibiting anyone from visiting the Port of Blightwater.

During each Enemy Phase, the Fate die is rolled to see how all Storms in play move:

• 0-4 — Move 1 hex space towards the current first player
• 5-9 — Move 1 hex space in direction of players choosing

Storms move independently from one another, and the Fate die is rolled for each to determine its movement. Storms are rightly feared by the most experienced of mariners, as they:

• Impose the same movement penalties as Rough Seas
• Deal 1 damage to ships changing facing and moving into and out of them
• Interrupt line of sight like Ports and Islands
• Ships in spaces covered by Storms also cannot fire their Artillery or reveal new Map Tiles
• Prevent players from interacting with whatever they cover

Revealing New Map Tiles

Exploring the map is vital for progression, revealing new places to visit and rewarding players with Clues. Each Act has a limited number of map tiles that players can reveal, indicated by the tile's Act number, and once all map tiles of an Act have been placed, players can discover no more of the map until the next Act begins.

To reveal a new map tile, a player's ship must be facing into an empty map tile slot and have a Crew manning the Crow's Nest node On Deck. Once these 2 requirements have been met, spending 1 navigation point reveals the new map tile (2 if in a Rough Seas hex space), it is immediately placed, and the map tile's Clue reward is collected. This does not automatically move them onto the new map tile; more navigation must be spent to do so.

Example: A Navigation Order is issued, generating 2 Navigation points (base of 1, plus 1 for the Deckhand on the Navigation node). The first is used to reveal a new tile, and the second to navigate onto the new tile. The player also collects the 2 Clue reward for revealing the tile.

Map tiles are drawn in Act ascending order, and if a new Act begins before all of the previous Act's map tiles have been revealed, players continue to draw and reveal from the previous Act tiles until exhausted.

Events & Storytelling

Whilst adventuring in this world, players will undoubtedly experience many unique and exciting tales that will test them to their fullest but yield great rewards if followed to their conclusion. Stories are multi-staged events that can begin in and crossover into the Sea Event, Expedition and Denizen decks. They take place over the course of 3 cards and always consist of a card that triggers the story, a Journey that usually requires some sacrifice or task to be completed and an Epilogue that concludes the tale and rewards the player for doing so.

The Narrator rule: Reading all cards containing story elements aloud is an integral part of the immersion and enriches all players' experience. The player to your left is your narrator, and whenever a Sea Event, Expedition or story-based Denizen card is drawn, they should be the one to read it aloud before the active player has looked at it. However, the Everrain uses some uncommon and intricate language to set the tone and theme as best as possible. Not everyone is comfortable with reading aloud, so players may also nominate one person to do the reading for the game's duration. In this case, when the narrator reads their own cards, they should obscure Choice cards outcomes with their thumbs to maintain the mystery of their choices' consequences.

Triggering stories: A story begins when the outcome of a choice a player has made ends with a + followed by a number. When prompted by an outcome of a card, search the Ongoing Stories deck for the corresponding numbered card. Place the card just resolved in the Ship Story slot, and without reading it, place the new card under the Ongoing Stories card. Players hold onto active story cards for future reference. When either the Player or Enemy Discovery reaches a space with the Story symbol, all cards in the Ongoing Stories deck are placed facedown & perpendicular on the top of their respective decks.

Triggering stories (continued): When a numbered card is drawn, players check to see to who it belongs. If it belongs to the player whose turn it is, the card is resolved immediately. If not, it is placed face down in the owner's Story slot and resolved when they would next draw a card from that deck.

Triggering stories

When the game begins the Sea Event, Expedition and Denizen decks consist of cards that have the potential to trigger stories.

Once a story has begun, that player is the owner, and no one can claim cards relating to that story. If a Story card is drawn on a player's turn that does not belong to them, the card is passed to the owner, who places it face down in their Ship board Story slot, and the current player draws another card. Face down cards in the Story slot are resolved when a player is next prompted to draw a card from that deck and must be resolved before drawing any new cards from that deck.

Lost & untold stories

Should a player not be able to meet the requirements on a card, then the story cannot continue, and the card is discarded. Any stories not concluded by the end of the game are simply considered untold, and players will have to endeavour to see the end of the tale on another playthrough.

Enemy Spawning & Behaviour

There are two distinct types of enemy; On Deck and At Sea:

• On Deck enemies: Bloated Cadaver, Cultist, Drowned Man, Harbinger, Wyrm. When: prompted by an outcome, when a player ship enters a tile with an active Altar and when purging an Altar. Where: On black nodes of the player's choosing.
• At Sea enemies: Damn Frigate, Malign Cruiser, Ruinous Galleon, Wicked Brigantine. When: prompted by an outcome, when a tile with an Enemy Ship Spawn icon is revealed and when a new Act begins. Where: On a Calm Sea Space of the player's choice on that player's tile OR a Rough Seas space if none are available.

When prompted, players should either draw from the top of the Enemy Deck or search the deck for a specific enemy card, depending on the instruction. Enemy cards should be kept to one side of the Ship board when spawning On Deck, and to one side of the game board when spawning on the map. On Deck enemies cannot be spawned At Sea, and At Sea enemies cannot be spawned On Deck. If these cards are drawn whilst spawning, they are ignored and another card is drawn.

Players are responsible for carrying out the enemy actions, and when spawned, enemies will always roll and resolve 1 Enemy die immediately, then perform full activations during every following Enemy Phase. When an enemy activates, the Enemy dice are rolled, and enemy actions are carried out accordingly. Enemies should be activated 1 at a time, in order of the player's choosing.

Spawning & Activation

Enemies On Deck: Unlike Crew, enemy movement is limited, and enemies can only move between zones that share a connecting edge. 1 Movement result allows enemies to move between 2 connected zones. If multiple paths are possible, enemies will always move through nodes with symbols (Artillery, Navigation or Crow's Nest).

Target priority: Enemies On Deck will prioritise: 1. Resolving Omen abilities. 2. Moving to closest Crew. 3. Damaging closest Crew. 4. Damaging nodes.

Running out of Miniatures

If a player is ever instructed but unable to spawn a specific enemy miniature, the Agenda track is advanced as if that enemy had been Banished (see Banishing, p32).

Movement, attacking & objectives

All enemy actions are dictated by the Enemy Dice, and when an enemy activates, they roll the amount of dice displayed on their Enemy card and act accordingly. Results are always worth 1 of their kind: Move, Damage, Omen.

Enemy dice results are unique to other dice. If 2 identical results are rolled that has no relevance to an enemy's situation, then they automatically become a result that does.

Example: The Cultist has rolled 1 damage and 2 movement results. In scenario A, it cannot reach the Deckhand, so it uses the movement results to get as close to the Deckhand as possible, and the damage result to destroy the Navigation node it arrives on. In Scenario B, the movement results are enough to reach the Deckhand, and so the Cultist will use the damage result against him.

Node disruption: Crew cannot use nodes occupied by enemies for their function or benefit until the enemy has moved or been destroyed.

Omen abilities: All On Deck enemies have unique abilities that trigger should enough Omen results be rolled. These abilities may only be triggered once per activation of that enemy.

Example: The Bloated Cadaver has rolled an omen and a movement result. This triggers its Burst ability, destroying itself, its node, the 2 adjacent nodes, and even causing the Deckhand to suffer 1 Trauma for being on a node when it was destroyed.

Enemies At Sea

When an Enemy ship spawns, an Enemy Destination token is placed on its destination, and it is oriented to face it. Once placed, its destination remains until the enemy ship is sunk or it reaches it. Enemy ship behaviour is dependant on whether a player ship is in Engagement range when it activates:

• Yes (player ship in range): It will use movement results to attempt to position itself to fire upon its target. Each damage result destroys 1 node. Any spare movement results are used to head for the destination, after resolving damage results.
• No (no player ship in range): It will head for its destination via the most efficient route and can traverse and occupy any unoccupied hex spaces.

If an enemy ship reaches its destination, it and its destination token are removed from play, and Agenda advances equal to the ship's remaining health.

Enemy destination token: When an enemy ship is spawned, their card will indicate their destination & these tokens are placed to mark it.

Destroying enemies & Spoils

Once an enemy has suffered Trauma equal to their Health, they are destroyed, and their Spoils reward is immediately collected. Each enemy has a Spoils Reward displayed on their card, which indicates how many times the player gets to roll on the Spoils table for destroying them.

Sinking enemy ships

Once an enemy ship has suffered damage equal to their Health, it is destroyed, and the miniature is replaced with a Shipwreck. This is treated as any other Shipwreck and removed once a player has interacted with it.

Example: The Damned Frigate has rolled 3 movement and 1 damage. This is enough to reach its Shipwreck destination, but a player ship is in engagement range, which takes priority. 2 damage is dealt to the player ship; 1 from the rolled damage result and 1 from converting 2 redundant movement result into a damage result. The Fate die is rolled twice, destroying nodes 5 and 8. Lastly, the remaining movement result is used to move the enemy ship 1 space towards its destination.

Combat - Engaging In & Avoiding

Conflict in this world is rife and can yield great rewards, but that is not the only path to achieving your goal, and combat can be avoided altogether, albeit for a price. There are 2 types of combat; On Deck and At Sea, and they each function differently.

Dice results in combat: Damage, Critical Damage, Omen, Blank, Evade.

Combat On Deck

Both your Crew and enemies can trigger combat On Deck; this is called a Fray. Frays are automatically triggered by Crew moving into a zone containing an enemy, issuing a Crew Order to a Crew in an enemy-occupied zone and enemies using damage results to inflict Trauma on Crew. Frays are resolved differently depending on who or what triggered them.

When multiple miniatures are involved in a Fray, players always decide how Trauma is distributed to both Crew and enemies, unless an ability specifies otherwise.

Crew triggered Frays: When Crew are ordered into zones containing enemies: create the player dice pool by choosing any combination of Attack or Evasion dice equal to the combined dice values of all Crew in the zone. Collect Enemy dice equal to each enemy in the zone's dice value -1. This is because the Crew are attacking, and so have the advantage. Roll all dice simultaneously and resolve the results.

Enemy triggered Frays: When enemies would deal damage to Crew: take the total enemy damage results rolled. Players counter by choosing & rolling 1 Attack or Evasion die for each Crew in the zone. Roll the Crew's counter dice and resolve the results.

Combat At Sea

Attacking enemy ships: Check the Artillery's range grid to determine how many Attack dice are rolled. With a Crew manning the relevant Artillery node On Deck, issue an Artillery Order. Roll and resolve the results.

Enemy ships attacking: When an enemy ship activates & is in Engagement range of a player: collect Enemy dice equal to its Dice value & 1 Evasion die for every Crew on a Navigation node of the target player ship. Using movement results, attempt to position the enemy ship so that the player ship is in its Artillery range. If successful, resolve the damage & evasion results, destroying 1 ship node per enemy damage result.

Converting Omen results: Omen results on Attack or Evasion dice are unique results that have no immediate effect when rolled, but each Omen result can be converted into a usable result by exhausting a Fresh Order.

Example: The Deckhand attacking the Drowned Man has rolled a Damage and an Omen result. 1 damage is not enough to destroy the Drowned Man, but the player still has a fresh Artillery Order and could exhaust this to convert the Omen result into a Damage result, which is enough to destroy the Drowned Man.

Avoiding Combat

Though conflict is a natural part of this world, players do not have to take part in it. Should a player wish to avoid combat because it does not suit their playstyle or simply to save a battered ship or their weary Crew, this is perfectly viable, though it allows the enemy to further their goals.

So long as players stay out of an enemy ship's Engagement range, they proceed toward their destination. However, should an enemy ship reach its destination, Enemy Agenda is advanced equal to the ship's remaining health and it is removed from play.

Banishing Enemies & Not Engaging Enemy Ships

Players can rid themselves of enemies On Deck without destroying them by visiting any Port, known as Banishing. The consequence of this is that Enemy Agenda is advanced equal to the combined remaining health of the enemies being Banished.

Example: The player has arrived at a Port with a Drowned Man and Bloated Cadaver On Deck, immediately Banishing them. Both have been weakened, and their combined remaining health is just 3, so Enemy Agenda is advanced 3. Had they been at full strength, Banishing these enemies would have advanced the Enemy Agenda 7!

Elder One Awakening

The Elder Ones are the end of all things, and should the enemy succeed in awakening them, players will have to work to stop them from completing their final goal and bringing about the Great Flood. If an Elder One is awakened and manages to complete its objective, then the game is lost.

Revealing & Spawning an Elder One

If Enemy and Elder One Discovery ever arrive at the same space on the Discovery track, the Elder One awakens, and the end game begins. The Elder One board is revealed, its miniature is placed as directed on the game board and their Upon Awakening effect is resolved. This can happen during any Act. Once awakened, an Elder One remains in play until the game has finished.

Activating & Controlling an Elder One

The Elder One activates at the start of the Enemy Phase, before all other enemies, and is controlled like enemy ships. Each time it activates, its Whilst Arisen effect should be checked and resolved if necessary.

The Elder One will attempt to complete its objective in the same way that enemy ships attempt to reach their Destination, but Elder Ones do not have an Engagement range and will single-mindedly pursue their objective above all else. If an Elder One does not have a clear target of destination, it will move toward and attack the closest player ship.

Combatting & Slowing an Elder One

An Elder One cannot be killed, but players can reduce its Dice Value by attacking it. Each time an Elder One's Health is reduced to 0, place a Dice Value Modifier token on their board and remove all Trauma gems. Elder Ones roll -1 Enemy die on activation for each one of these tokens on its board. Their Dice Value cannot be lowered to 0 and will always roll at least 1 die.

Player Interaction & Co-operation

Each player commands their own vessel and crew and embarks on their own personal adventure, but there are also several ways for players to aid each other throughout the journey.

Trading

If two players are in adjacent hex spaces, and it is one of those player's turns, they may freely trade. Trading does not cost any Orders or actions to initiate, and players may trade as much as they wish.

Trading items: Can be traded — Crew, Coin, Treasures, Schematics and Clues. Cannot be traded — Orders, installed Upgrades.

Assisting in Combat

Players cannot ever directly board another player's ship, but there are ways to help should a player find themselves in need of aid. Players may fire their Artillery at other player's ships to attempt to destroy enemies On Deck. Successful Attack results cause Trauma to an enemy of choice, but any blank results destroy nodes on the target player's ship!

Example: In dire need of some assistance with the Abhorrent On Deck, another player has come to their aid, letting loose with a Minion Drakes barrage. A critical damage and a blank result are rolled, dealing 2 damage to the Abhorrent, but destroying the Crow's Nest.

Optional Advanced Mechanics

Boarding Ships & Launching Exhaustive Expeditions

The following rules are for players familiar with the game, who are looking for an even more in-depth and challenging experience. These mechanics can slow the pace of the game and are most suited to solo play or smaller groups.

Boarding Ships

When a player ship is in an adjacent hex space to an enemy ship at sea, players may instead decide to board the ship and use their Crew to fight in close quarters.

Boarding enemy ships: When a player & enemy ship are in adjacent spaces & the player wishes to board: place an Enemy ship board next to the On Deck section of the player Ship board. Spawn enemies with Act Values equal to the current Act. Where they spawn on the Enemy ship is determined by rolling the Fate die. Both ships are now considered a single On Deck area. Zones connected by the red arrows are considered adjacent.

Now boarding combat begins:

1. The player activates as many Crew as they wish, moving them to a node and triggering a Fray if applicable. Orders are not Issued to do this, and not all Crew have to be activated.
2. All enemies activate and resolve their actions.

This continues until either all Crew or all enemies have been killed. The player should resolve the entire boarding action during their turn, and once boarding has begun, it cannot be undone until a victor has been declared.

• Player victory: Collect the Spoils Reward displayed in the bottom left corner of the Enemy Ship board & remove the Enemy Ship miniature from play. Enemy ships vanquished by boarding do not spawn Shipwrecks.
• Enemy victory: The player ship is sunk.

Launching Exhaustive Expeditions

Instead of launching an Expedition in the usual way, players can instead choose to launch an Exhaustive Expedition. These more thorough explorations of islands can yield greater rewards, but they are not without risk.

Exhaustive Expeditions: When a player arrives at an unexplored Island & wishes to launch an Exhaustive Expedition: place an Island board next to the On Deck section of the player's Ship board. Randomly deal an Exhaustive Expedition token to each node, with all "?" facing up. Starting with any of the nodes connected to the board's shore (right) side, the player now moves all Crew in the Dingy or Ship's Boat Improvements to one or more of these nodes and reveals and resolves all tokens on nodes with Crew present. A Crew of choice suffers 1 Strain on each node that a token is revealed, and the cycle is repeated (move Crew, reveal and resolve tokens, suffer Strain) until the Expedition ends.

There are 5 different tokens:

• Collect 1 Clue
• Collect 1 Treasure
• Draw & Resolve an Expedition card. This immediately ends the Exhaustive Expedition
• Draw & Spawn an enemy On Deck
• All Crew on Node recover 2 Strain

Any actions taken by Crew on an Exhaustive Expedition do not cost Orders and are free. Crew must always move from right to left, and only between nodes connected by a dotted path.

Example: The Deckhand and Navigator have taken different routes into the island and revealed 1 token each. They could continue to explore separately, but the Deckhand would die if they revealed another token independently. For them to survive, the next action should be to send both Crew to the same node and have the Navigator suffer the Strain, or end the Expedition.

Ending an Exhaustive Expedition: An Exhaustive Expedition ends when either: a Crew reaches the gold node with the Draw Expedition symbol on the leftmost side of the Island board; the token with the Draw & Resolve an Expedition card symbol is revealed; or the player chooses to end the Expedition. Expeditions can be ended after resolving a token. All Crew are returned Below Deck.

The entire Exhaustive Expedition action should be resolved during the player's turn.

The World of the Everrain

To whoever finds these passages,

On first reading, you would be forgiven for imagining the information contained herein to be the work of the most fantastical of minds, plucked from a boundless imagination. Please do not make that mistake. I offer no apology for burdening you with these truths; they will find us all, whether innocuously through my writings or unapologetically as one thousand tentacles writhing at your doorstep.

There is a great evil coming. It will arrive and unmake the world, whether we choose to believe in its existence or not. Perhaps I am too late, and this tome now sits upon the ocean's floor, never again to be read by humanity. I must believe this is not true. Arm yourselves with the knowledge I have amassed, dear reader. See that my life's work is not in vain, and do whatever possible to stem the coming flood that would drown us all.

Regards,

Professor Nigel Worsley

The Under God & the Coming of the Great Flood

In the beginning, our world was a dry and barren place, endlessly empty and devoid of life. The passing of day and night was marked by no one. Aeons were lost to this cycle of perpetual monotony until the day that It arrived from the stars. An Eldritch thing, ancient and beyond our reckoning of power, changed our world and brought to it ceaseless rains.

It is unknown when our ancestors were borne into the world, yet when they finally emerged, they spread across the land and seas with impunity and flourished wherever they settled. This was the golden age of our people.

But it was not to last. A corruption had taken root; the once life-giving rains fell unabated and threatened to swallow land and life alike. The coming of the Great Flood was nigh. Nightmarish apparitions emerged from the sea, stealing away innocents to a watery grave. It was the Eldritch thing's influence, debasing all it touched.

It is known by many names; Under God, Abyssal King, It Beneath the Tides, to name a few, but all refer to the creature from the stars that arrived on our world so long ago.

Maddeningly, the details are lost to antiquity, but somehow our progenitors uncovered a way to thwart the Eldritch thing's rise and deliver us from it. If we are to survive, we must rediscover their solution to the calamity that threatens us once again.

Cultists

Though the Under God slumbers, it may still reach out to those susceptible to Its influence. Beginning as a most subtle whisper in the mind, often confused as one's inner thoughts, the Abyssal King communes with its new vassal through dream and shadow, corrupting their soul for the promise of being made anew for the coming world. They now work tirelessly to bring about The Great Flood.

What begins as a corruption of the mind in time works to alter the body too. To ready Its thralls for the coming flood, their bodies are transformed in a process known as the Descension. The Cultists represent souls in this transmutation's throes, still in possession of a human-like form, yet monstrously mutated.

Their appearance largely exiles them from society and so find themselves resigned to working from the shadows.

The Descended

The nightmarish apogee of the Under God's corruption, the Descended have at last left behind almost all traces of their humanity and are ready to serve in the new drowned world. Few have laid eyes on the fully Descended, as a mere glimpse of their horrifying form is enough to send ordinary folk mad, and fewer still have lived long enough to tell of their tale. The Descended hatred of humanity is such that they cannot abide any they happen upon to live and will lash with all manner of claw, mandible and tendril until life is extinguished.

The Corruption of the Waters

So potent is It Beneath the Tides corruption that it permeates the very oceans with suitably malign consequences. Death is expected on the high seas, and many sailors have been laid to rest in the world's vast waters. But even the restful dead have been disturbed and made puppets of the Under God, reanimated in all their waterlogged and decaying glory.

Reference: Traits & Spoils Table

Positive Traits

• Astute: -1 Clue needed to advance Player Discovery at the University
• Belligerent: +1 Dice Value
• Blessed: Fate die results may be re-rolled. The new result is final
• Enduring: 1 free death. When killed, remove all Trauma, Strain & this Trait, draw new Traits & place Below Deck
• Explorer: Before testing, you may re-draw the Expedition card. The new card is final
• Extroverted: 1 Strain recovered when visiting Port
• Friendly: Draw 2 Denizen cards when visiting Port
• Hardy: Strain not suffered for finishing a turn On Deck
• Old Hand: +1 die when firing Artillery
• Prosperous: Collect 5 Coin when visiting Port
• Resourceful: Blank results may be treated as Evade/Damage (dual-purpose symbol)
• Sea Dog: +1 navigation point generated when manning a Navigation node
• Seasoned: At the end of your turn, recover 1 Trauma or Strain
• Selfless: May suffer Trauma to change Fate die result (1 Trauma = -1 to result)
• Spirited: 1 Trauma recovered when moved Below Deck
• Tuneful: Collect a Shanty Treasure when visiting Port

Negative Traits

• Beloved: When this Crew dies, all Crew suffer 1 Strain & discard all Positive Traits
• Burdensome: -1 to Fate die results when engaging services
• Cloddish: Successful Fate die results must be re-rolled. The new result is final
• Clumsy: -1 Die when firing Artillery
• Contemptible: Fate die results must be re-rolled. The new result is final
• Cowardly: -1 Dice Value (cannot fall below 1)
• Degenerate: When visiting Port, must first Gamble or Drink. After this, they may visit a second location
• Duplicitous: Discard 5 Coin when visiting Port
• Hesitant: Must choose at least 1 Evasion die when in a Fray
• Ignorant: +1 Clue needed to advance Player Discovery at the University
• Incompetent: Omen rolled are considered blank results
• Indolent: Can only be issued 1 Order per turn
• Listless: 1 Strain suffered when returning from Expeditions
• Misanthrope: 1 Strain suffered when visiting Port
• Quarrelsome: Must be the only Crew occupying the node, zone or Improvement
• Weary: +1 Strain suffered when finishing a turn On Deck

Indelible Traits (Shellbacks)

• Bullish: At the start of your turn, refresh 1 Crew Order at no cost
• Cunning: Resolve the Mercenary's dice first in Frays. If the enemy is destroyed, do not resolve theirs
• Diligent: At the end of your turn, all Crew on the same deck as the Surgeon recover 1 Trauma (not including the Surgeon)
• Discerning: You may add or subtract 1 from Spoils table results
• Disruptor: Enemy Omen results are considered blank when the Occultist is On Deck & do not convert into anything else
• Erudite: Whenever you collect a Treasure, also collect 1 Clue (trading Treasures with other players does not count)
• Hearty: At the end of your turn, all Crew on the same deck as the Cook recover 1 Strain (not including the Cook)
• Industrious: Once per turn, may repair a node or install an Upgrade at no cost. Must be On Deck to repair nodes & Below Deck to install Upgrades
• Marksman: Re-roll blank results when firing Artillery. The results are final
• Savvy: Once per turn, you may sell 1 Treasure in Port for its Desired Value
• Troublesome: At the start of your turn, roll on the Troublesome Table
• Wayfinder: Map tiles may be revealed without Crew in the Crow's Nest & do not cost Navigation points to reveal

Spoils Table

Roll the Fate die and consult:

Fate Result	Reward
0	1 Clue
1	2 Clues
2-3	Commodity Treasure
4	Trinket Treasure
5	Relic Treasure
6	Artillery Schematic
7	Improvement Schematic
8	5 Coin
9	10 Coin

Credits

Story & original concept: Adam Smith

Game design & development: Adam Smith

Production: Mike Brown & Adam Smith

Cover art: Brian Coughlan

Artwork: Felix Bauer-Schlichtegroll, Brian Coughlan, Bjorn Hurri, Sebastian Kowoll, Henning Ludvigsen

Sculpting: Thomas Lishman, Alexei Popovici, Kieran Russell

Graphic Design: Aleksandra Bilic, Chris Doughman

Special thanks: Matt Clarke, Ken Cunningham, Caitlyn Munneke, Jamie Noble Frier, Paul Nojima, Vernon Piper, Paul Rose, Sebastian Schramm, Lukasz Skolasinski, Colin Young, all of our volunteers who worked tirelessly at conventions and all Kickstarter backers who made this possible.

Dedicated to Charles & Iris Smith

Copyright 2021 Grimlord Games, all rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific permission. The Everrain and Grimlord Games are trademarks of Grimlord Games Ltd.